“I give and I take divine feminine wisdom birthright,” Oscar-nominated actress, Naomie Harris narrates the opening lines as Mami Wata, a deity and ancestral memory in Cat White’s powerful documentary short, Swim Sistas. Finding joy, healing, and connection through water, White documents the journey of black women swimmers across different generations.
From the opening scene, the tone is set straight away and you know to expect a calming, rejoiced, and sentimental journey. Together White and director of photography, Martyna Knitter wonderfully capture the beauty of nature. From establishing shots of the lake to close-up shots of the ferns swaying in the wind as the camera leads us onto the main subjects.
We follow British Olympian swimmer Alice Dearing, athlete Lexi Sandiford, The Traitors star Jasmine Botswain and first-time swimmer Roni Bruno as they reminiscence about their connections to the water. They speak candidly into the camera reflecting on their history, past regrets, and what they will do differently now they’ve experienced this healing journey together.
Swim Sistas: Stories Not Yet Told, But Need to Be Heard
The subjects’ personal stories provide an insight into their relationship with swimming as they detail their struggles including body image. White excellently connects the liberated freedom that comes with swimming with how it allows you to flow with your thoughts.
But the film cleverly moves from the older generation – who felt more restricted to the young generation’s new-found freedom. Although an interesting pointer to take away from Swim Sistas is how times are beginning to change for the better. The spectrum of swimming experience from a first-time swimmer to a professional provides a great range of perspectives. But there’s also the realisation that their views on swimming aren’t too different afterall.
White has targeted an important topic with stories that have not yet been told but needed to be heard. She gifts a safe space for their perspectives to be freely represented. Although connecting their stories with her poetic narration and the blissful shots of nature all add to this sense of real-time storytelling where relevance meets water imagery.
“Sistas, your courage is your legacy – treasure to be pulled from sand and silt. It’s how you write your story. It’s how the water remembers.”
Swim Sistas (2026)
Poetic Script
How White frames the women’s personal stories is handled in such a careful and sensitive manner. It feels like we are listening into a calming group therapy session. But the narration depicts a poetic script with an interesting combination of Cat’s and Zephora Bryce’s voices. Playing a child’s voice over the original narration connects the generations together. This is a great technique that fits so well here.
White’s approach to showcasing the interviews in this documentary is filmed extremely seamlessly. The subjects’ stories flow into each other like waves in the water to show how they are all connected through the strength of sisterhood.
But the power behind Swim Sistas lies in how it connects several generations together. Through its calming tone and slow overhead shots tracking over the water, the ripples act like threads connecting each female story to the next. But this film is not only personal to the subjects and their voices but to the director too. After losing her friend to suicide in 2021, White turned to swimming and since then lakes have featured heavily in her films.
Theme of Water
White has forged the theme of water which runs through her filmography. Her previous short, Fifty-Four Days (2022) featured at the Femme Filmmakers Festival 2025. The film follows a young woman named Ruby (played by Cat White herself) who turns to wild swimming after a tragedy strikes.
But learning to come to terms with her grief she finds unlikely friendship along the way. Although the director’s theme of water doesn’t stop here. White’s upcoming folk-horror debut feature, Black Samphire serves as a cautionary tale to raise awareness around water pollution in the U.K. and stars Stephen Fry.
Swim Sistas will make you empathise, understand, and open your mind to the stories of black women and their connection to their history and the water. Cat White beautifully captures their stories through a soft and sweeping direction where water forms a character in itself.
But this short reminds us that water has the power to let us experience our freedom. With our thoughts lie our strengths. The beautifully emotional ending shot where the women form a circle in the lake sends a powerful message. Within their sisterhood, they can now conquer the water together through sharing their lived experiences.
Rating: 4 ½ Stars
Swim Sistas is part of Filmotomy’s coverage on the Femme Filmmakers Festival 2026.
You can read more reviews from the festival, including Scroll Or Stroll (2026) here.
